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HARDY’s mom reflected on her now-superstar son’s path to success in a new interview on the heartfelt podcast, Got It From My Momma, a recently-debuted show where host Jennifer Vickery Smith interviews the women who raised famous entertainers.
Sarah Hardy spent her life in her home state of Mississippi before relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, in support of her children who were chasing their dreams, and to be closer to her grandchildren. Throughout the podcast episode, Sarah shared stories about HARDY’s childhood, her vision for his career as singer-songwriter, her proudest moments, her faith and more, including the call she received when her son and three others sustained “significant injuries” in a tour bus accident overnight in October.
HARDY — who recently released his half country, half rock album, the mockingbird & THE CROW — announced on his social media channels at the time that “our tour bus was in an accident on our way home from Bristol, [Tennessee],” he said, in part. “There were just four of us, including myself, on the bus, however we were all treated for significant injuries.”
Sarah told Smith it was “scary” when she received a call from her son’s road manager, Noah, around 3:30 a.m. that morning. She was “sound asleep,” though she’s a light sleeper and “thankfully” awoke to the sound of her phone buzzing. Sarah remembered that she knew “this is not gonna be good” when she saw the name “Noah Brown” appear on her phone. She told Smith that at first, she thought her son, whose first name is Michael, had been involved in an accident that only impacted him (for example, a fall that resulted in a broken leg, she said).
“He [Noah] told me that there had been a bus accident and he told me that they were in the hospital… he said, ‘everybody’s OK,’” Sarah recalled. “The bottom line was, he reassured me it was not a life-threatening thing.”
Sarah said her husband was out of town, and she was watching the kids at the time. HARDY’s now wife, Caleigh, was on her bachelorette trip at the time. Sarah’s husband immediately headed back home, and she began sending text messages to loved ones to let them know about the accident before the news broke. Sarah said another country hitmaker, Morgan Wallen, was the one who brought HARDY home from the hospital. Wallen was “joking around and FaceTiming” with HARDY when the bus accident happened, Sarah said, explaining that the two artists were on their respective buses at the time and Wallen apparently saw the screen go black at the time of the crash (he didn’t immediately realize what happened, she said, noting that Wallen apparently wasn’t sure if it was just a prank, though no one picked up when he tried calling back).
Smith said Tanner Gallagher’s recollection of the accident hit close to home for her. One of her son, Cooper Smith — who is a videographer for his brother, singer Conner Smith — is in the same role. Gallagher opened up about the accident shortly after it happened, posting photos from the hospital and sharing more details about what had happened that night. Gallagher said at the time that the group of four — Gallagher, HARDY, Noah and their bus driver Ricky — that “our bus ran off the highway at around 70mph flipping us into the woods. ….Within what felt like 3 seconds, our bodies were thrown across the room knocking us all unconscious. By the grace of God, we all survived.”
“It was a lot worse than I realized at the time,” Sarah said on Got It From My Momma. she added that Gallagher is still healing, “but he’s young and he’s strong and he’s come a long way… he’s going to be OK.”
Sarah also expressed gratitude for everyone who contacted her son after the accident to offer their support and well-wishes. She said, “we are so thankful that they’re all OK.”
Smith closed the podcast by asking Sarah what she believes HARDY got from her. Sarah believes she and her son share the same authenticity and self confidence.
Got It From My Momma features chats “about family, fame, and faith with the mommas of your favorite entertainers.” Previously, Smith has spoken to Thomas Rhett’s mom, Lauren Alaina’s mom and others. Listen to the podcast on iHeartRadio here.